Article holding means



M r h 2 1967 M. F. MULLOY 3,310,265

ARTICLE HOLDING MEANS Filed April 19, 1965 United States Patent C) 3,310,265 ARTICLE HOLDING MEANS Miles F. Mulloy, 25246 Lloyd Road, Lombard, Ill. 60148 Filed Apr. 19, 1965, Ser. No. 449,030 8 Claims. (Cl. 248-99) This invention relates to an assembly and units in which containers with collapsible walls are conveniently positioned and held in holders to receive waste materials such as newspaper.

A primary object of this invention is a holder for paper bags or the like which can be conveniently fixed to supporting structures, and which holder positions the container at a desired angular position to receive waste materials during a storage period, and which holder allows the container to be later easily removed for disposal.

Another object is an assembly having a specially formed holder, a cheap container with collapsible wall portion to receive waste material such as newspapers positioned in the holder, and removable separating means seated in the holder which hold spaced collapsible wall portions of the container in an open position to receive the waste materials.

Another object is a specially designed holder to receive containers with collapsible wall portions such as paper containers, which holder can be conveniently connected to various supporting structures which are advantageously placed in the home for the convenience of the user.

Another object is an assembly including a holder having walls inclined at desired positions which walls are adapted to hold a collapsible container such as a paper bag at a convenient angular position so that its open end is easily accessible to the user, and retaining members removably seated at opposite ends of the holder adapted to keep the opposed collapsible wall portions of the bag in open position while the bag is being used to receive a store of waste materials such as newspapers.

Another object is a separating clip which is particularly adapted to be seated in a holder of the type discussed, such holder having separating members which coact with aligned portions of a collapsible container to keep said container in an open position in the holder.

Another object is a disposable assembly wherein a specially designed holder has inclined walls, and a collapsible container such as a paper bag positioned between the walls, the container having opposed collapsible wall portions of selected dimensions to engage the walls and neatly receive waste newspapers.

Another object is to disposable assembly wherein a specially designed holder receives a container with collapsible wall portions such as a paper bag at an inclined angle for convenient use; and such bag is dimensioned to neatly receive waste newspapers; and said bag is provided with a closure flap to close the open end after a desired number of newspapers have been deposited; and means are provided to seal such closure flap so that a neat package of waste newspapers is provided for disposal.

These objects and other objects are attained by the invention which will be described in detail and which includes drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the assembly and operative position, showing some deposited waste newspapers in phantom;

FIGURE 2 is a front elevational view of the holder;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view of the holder;

FIGURE 4 is a partial top plan View of the holder;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view along line 55 of FIG- URE 2, and

FIGURE 6 is a side elevational view of the separating "ice clip used to keep the container open when placed in the holder.

The use of the same numerals in the various views will represent reference to the same or corresponding structures, elements and relationships.

A holder shown generally as 10 has a pair of opposed end walls such as 12, which wall is illustrated as having a substantially triangular configuration. Each of the end walls has a rear flange such as 16 and a front flange such as 17, which are shown extending from top to bottom of the end wall 12. The rear flanges are provided with openings such as 18 which receives screws or the like for connecting the holder to a supporting structure which, in this instance, is shown as an upright wall 22 conveniently located in a room where the disposable assembly is desirably positioned.

Inside the holder is a container shown generally as 24 which may be a paper bag. The container has collapsible, opposed end wall portions shown as planar walls 26, 28 and opposed collapsible side wall portions shown as planar walls 30, 32. A floor portion shown as a planar floor 34 connects the various side and end wall portions. The container is shown with a closure flap 36 connected to the top of side wall portion 32. Closure flap 36 has a depending flange portion 38 which may be provided with a dry adhesive for sealing the closure by moistening after the closure flap has been turned to close the open end of the container.

The holder has a pair of inclined walls 44 and 46. It is seen that inclined wall 44 is a front wall in which top edge 48 partly defines the open end of the holder. In this embodiment the front wall extends over both front flanges as is seen in relation to flange 17. Inclined wall 46 functions as a bottom wall for the deposited waste material and it is connected towards the bottom edge of wall 44 as at 50. It is seen that wall 46 is generally normal to front wall 44 which configuration has marked advantages for conveniently supporting the collapsible container 24.

The inclined walls are connected to the end walls by any one of the convenient ways available to the art. Each end wall is shown with the lateral member such as 52 connected to the top edge. Each of said members is provided with a slot such as 54 which is of predetermined length to seat a locking member of a clip shown generally as 56. As seen in FIGURE 1, such clips keep the opposed collapsible aligned wall portions of the paper bag separated so the open end is retained in its open position during the period when waste material such as newspapers are deposited therein.

The clip has an intermediate locking member consisting of a descending branch 60, a transverse branch 62 and an ascending branch 64. Flanking said member and joined thereto are separating members which include spaced legs 66 and 68 connected by bottom base 70 and upper transverse arms 72 and 74. As shown, the clip may be formed from a unitary elongated member in a particular configuration. It is seen that transverse branch 62 and ascending branches 60, 64 of the locking member are of predetermined elongated dimensions so that they are seated in slot 54 of predetermined length at a desired angle. The spaced legs 66 and 68 are at predetermined spacings so that they hold the aligned collapsible wall portions of a paper bag in the open position. When such clip is mounted and engaged with the paper bag, the bottom member 70 extends along the collapsible floor portion of the paper bag. The spaced legs 66 and 68 are preferably of a length which corresponds to the top to bottom dimension of the paper bags so that such sides can engage opposed aligned portions such as the corners on one side of the paper bag throughout their entirelength. Such engagement by the legs results in a 3 more effective separation of the paper bag when seated in the holder.

The use and operation of my invention are as follows.

The disposable assembly and unit disclosed herein meet and satisfy many requirements for the deposit, storage, packaging and disposal of waste materials. This assembly and unit has been particularly described in terms of its adaptability to waste newspapers and this is clearly its preferred use. It is, however, to be understood that the advantages of the assembly and unit can be adapted to receiving, storing and disposing waste materials other than newspapers.

The coaction of the holder and container with collapsible wall portions permits the container to be positioned so that its open end is conveniently accessible to the user. This is provided by the angular disposition of the container as described. In particular, the inclined walls diverge from each other at one of their ends so that a first wall has a top edge leading towards the user and a second wall is joined to the first wall towards a bottom edge. The second wall is positioned substantially normal to the first wall to provide the best angular disposition of the dihedral surface. The container and walls further coact in that the front and bottom planar portions of the container respectfully engage substantially the entire area or surface of the first and second walls. The end planar portions of the container engage substantially all of the holder end walls on the inside.

The container has been referred to as one having collapsible wall portions which is desirable because such containers are economical and easy to handle in conjunction with the holders and other units of the assembly. Such containers will most often take the form of paper bags but containers made of flexible materials such as plastics would understandably operate in the practice of the invention.

The economical advantages and convenience of such containers are realized, and such advantages are not lost by the inconvenience which would ordinarily result from collapsing wall portions reducing the area of the open end. This disadvantage is prevented from occurring by the use of separating clips which are dimensioned so that they cooperate operatively in the combination with respect to being removably seated in the end walls, and with respect to retaining a given container in a desirably open position.

The holder may be adapted in various ways to be connected to any one of many supporting structures. As an illustration, an upright wall 22 has been shown as a supporting structure which wall would expectedly be in a cellar, utility room or the like. Such a wall may be one fashioned from the popular composition board having a plurality of apertures to receive connectors, brackets or the like. However, any number of supporting structures can be used and means can be provided for supporting the holder in such a structure. As a further example, one can use an open top frame unit suitably provided with supporting members to position the holder, properly angled relative to the user at the top of the frame unit. Such a frame unit or carriage can be provided with rollers to advantageously facilitate transport. Other possibilities will occur to those skilled in this art.

The foregoing invention can now be practiced, and such practitioners will know that the invention is not necessarily restricted to the particular embodiments presented herein. The scope of the invention is to be defined by the terms of the following claims as given meaning by the preceding description.

I claim:

1. A holder assembly for receiving, storing and disposing of waste material, including a holder adapted to be mounted on a supporting structure, inclining means within said holder adapted to hold a disposable container with collapsible walls at an angle so that an open top of the container is disposed toward convenient access by a user, and removable separating means adapted to maintain collapsible Walls of the disposable container in separation while mounted in the holder for receipts of waste materials, said container comprising a paper bag with spaced planar side walls and a flap to close the open top, said removable separating means comprising a plurality of clips, each clip having separated side members spaced a predetermined distance to engage opposed substantially aligned portions in a substantially top to bottom engagement.

2. A holder assembly for waste newspapers and the like including, a holder adapted to be mounted on a supporting structure, said holder having end walls, an inclined side wall, and a second side wall, the bottoms of said side walls being adjoined and the tops of said side walls extending away from each other so that a rectangular paper bag may be seated in the holder in a way which permits a planar side of the paper bag to engage the inclined side wall in the planar bottom of the paper bag to engage a second side wall, a clip removably mounted in each end wall of the holder, said clip having laterally spaced members which maintain the spaced planar sides of the paper bag in open position.

3. A holder assembly as in claim 2 further characterized in that the clip which is adapted to retain the collapsible sides in open position includes a locking member adapted to engage a slot at the top of the holder, and a separating member having spaced sides adapted to engage opposed aligned portions of the planar walls.

4. A holder bag assembly as in claim 2 further characterized by and including means to connect the holder to an upright wall of the room where it may be conveniently positioned for depositing and holding waste newspapers.

5. A holder assembly for waste newspapers and the like including a holder adapted to be mounted on a sup porting structure, a container seated in the holder, said container having opposed, collapsible planar walls, said holder having opposed end walls, a pair of divering inclined side walls between the end walls, one of said inclined end walls being a front wall with its top edge at least partly defining the open end of the holder, the other inclined wall being a bottom wall joined substantially at a normal position to the front wall, a lateral member fixed to the top of each end wall, a slot in each lateral member, a separating clip removably mounted in each slot, said separating clip having an intermediate locking member adapted to engage the slot to be seated therein and side members flanking the locking member, said side members joined to the locking member, the side members having a predetermined length to engage opposed portions of the planar side walls of the container substantially along the entire top to bottom distance of said planar walls.

6. A holder assembly as in claim 5 further characterized in that each end wall has a locking flange and means adaptable to connect said flange to an upright wall in a room to make the holder operational for receipt of waste newspapers and the like.

7. A holder assembly for waste newspapers and the like including, a holder adapted to be mounted on a supporting structure, said holder having spaced end walls and a pair of inclined side walls connected between the end walls, one of said inclined side walls being a front wall with its top edge at least partly defining an open end of the holder, the second of said inclined walls being a bottom wall connected towards the bottom of the front wall at a position generally normal thereto, a rectangular paperbag dimensioned to fit within said holder, the paper bag having a front planar wall adapted to engage substantially the entire area of the front wall of the holder and a bottom planar wall adapted to engage substantially the entire area of the holder, the bag having opposed end walls with portions which engage substantially the entire inside surface of the end walls of the holder, a lateral member fixed to the top of each end wall, a slot of predetermined length in each of said lateral members, a clip seated in the slot to provide a secure seating therein, each clip having an intermediate locking member seated in said slot, side members flanking and connected to said intermediate locking member, the side member having a length substantially greater than the intermediate locking memher, said length of said side members predetermined to engage opposed alike corner portions of the paper bag to retain said paper bag in the open position, said paper bag having a closure flap which rests alongside the front wall of the holder in an inactive position, and means on said flap closure to seal the flap in closed position when it is desired to seal the waste newspapers in the bag and remove the bag from the holder.

8. A holder for a diposable paper bag with collapsible planar side walls and planar end walls including, opposed end walls, inclined side walls between the end walls, one of said side Walls being a front wall with its top edge partly defining the open end of the holder, the second of said inclined walls being a bottom wall connected towards the bottom of the front wall and being substantially normal thereto, said front wall adapted to engage the front planar wall of the paper bag substantially throughout its entire area, and said bottom wall adapted to engage the bottom wall of the paper bag substantially throughout its entire area, substantially the entire inside surfaces of the end walls adapted to engage portions of the end wall of the paper bag, lateral members on the top of each end wall, means in said lateral members adapted to seat means which retain the opposed collapsible planar side Walls of the paper bag in open position, and means on the holder adapted to fix said holder to a supporting structure.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 484,079 10/1892 Young 248100 990,856 5/ 1911 Freiberg 248126 1,895,904 l/1933 Lutts et al. 220-63 2,491,515 12/ 1949 Orchard 24899 2,754,079 7/1956 Krueger et al. 248311 3,218,014 11/1965 Frazier 248101 CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Primary Examiner.

I. F. FOSS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A HOLDER ASSEMBLY FOR RECEIVING, STORING AND DISPOSING OF WASTE MATERIAL, INCLUDING A HOLDER ADAPTED TO BE MOUNTED ON A SUPPORTING STRUCTURE, INCLINING MEANS WITHIN SAID HOLDER ADAPTED TO HOLD A DISPOSABLE CONTAINER WITH COLLAPSIBLE WALLS AT AN ANGLE SO THAT AN OPEN TOP OF THE CONTAINER IS DISPOSED TOWARD CONVENIENT ACCESS BY A USER, AND REMOVABLE SEPARATING MEANS ADAPTED TO MAINTAIN COLLAPSIBLE WALLS OF THE DISPOSABLE CONTAINER IN SEPARATION WHILE MOUNTED IN THE HOLDER FOR RECEIPTS OF WASTE MATERIALS, SAID CONTAINER COMPRISING A PAPER BAG WITH SPACED PLANAR SIDE WALLS AND A FLAP TO CLOSE THE OPEN TOP, SAID REMOVABLE SEPARATING MEANS COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF CLIPS, EACH CLIP HAVING SEPARATED SIDE MEMBERS SPACED A PREDETERMINED DISTANCE TO ENGAGE OPPOSED SUBSTANTIALLY ALIGNED PORTIONS IN A SUBSTANTIALLY TOP TO BOTTOM ENGAGEMENT. 